Senior Lawyer

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: E
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent Full-time
DEPARTMENT: Litigation BBC Legal
LOCATION: London based role with some hybrid working currently Wednesday and Thursday
SALARY RANGE: 85900 - 110000pa (plus London Weighting 5441pa) depending on relevant skills knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

Were happy to discuss flexible working. If youd like to please indicate your preference in the application though theres no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

We are looking for an experienced litigator to join the BBCs Litigation and Information Rights Department as a senior lawyer.

You will work closely with programme-makers journalists senior management and others within the BBC Group to provide comprehensive advice relating to media disputes (including defamation privacy reporting restrictions contempt and PACE applications) commercial and contractual disputes judicial review internal and external inquiries and investigations other regulatory disputes and contentious requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

The role sits within the BBC Legal Division which is responsible for providing legal advice and assistance across the BBC and for developing and implementing the BBCs legal strategy. The Legal Division is led by the BBCs General Counsel. It is made up of the following departments: General Counsels Office Litigation and Information Rights Intellectual Property Employment Programme Legal Advice Commercial Data Protection and Technology Distribution and Competition and Regulatory Law.

Our overall structure is similar to that found in private practice firms and we provide advice and support on a wide range of matters. Whilst this means the work can be challenging and fast-paced at times we are open to hybrid ways of working to support our staff where appropriate and in line with our flexible working policies.

If you want to find out more about us KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

As a Senior Lawyer you will be required to:

• provide advice and leadership on contentious matters at all levels across the BBC Group
• work as part of a team in dealing with disputes in the High Court County Court and other tribunal proceedings and manage disputes in other jurisdictions with the assistance of local counsel
• work as part of a team dealing with internal and external investigations often on a time sensitive basis including managing internal searches for documents;
• deal with requests for BBC materials from third parties such as the police regulatory authorities inquiries (statutory and non-statutory);
• oversee and manage the work of less experienced colleagues in the Litigation and Information Rights Department and help to support their professional development;
• assist with and participate in training and professional development activities for the Litigation and Information Rights Department;
• work effectively and collaboratively with colleagues in the Litigation and Information Rights Department the wider legal division and across the BBC to provide a first class legal service.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

To be successful in this role you will need the following:

• You will have qualified as a solicitor or barrister in a leading law firm or chambers with a minimum of 5 years PQE substantial litigation experience and a strong academic background. Confident in dealing with a wide range of legal matters excellent problem solving and strong analytical skills along with a proven ability to provide clear and succinct guidance to support sound commercial and legal advice.
• Substantial demonstrable experience and knowledge of at least two of the following: contentious media law contractual disputes public law and experience in internal and externally-led investigations.
• Demonstrable experience of managing large scale document search and disclosure processes and using AI in dispute resolution processes to manage the processes effectively and cost efficiently and make changes to enhance efficiency.
• As an effective articulate communicator with strong interpersonal and influencing skills you will possess demonstrable experience of influencing key decision makers underpinned by your resilient pragmatic approach and ability to build and maintain effective client relationships at all levels in a dynamic environment.
• Highly organised youll be comfortable managing a diverse workload to tight deadlines and of delivering training and presentations to a variety of audiences. Youll also need experience of supervising the work of more junior members of the team and overseeing more complex matters as required.
  

DESIRABLE:

• Experience of advising in respect of Subject Access Requests
• Experience of advising in respect of and responding to or submitting requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
• Experience of providing training on legal issues.

If you can bring some of these skills and experiences along with transferable strengths wed love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

Before your start date you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges in line with our Contracts of Employment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

Close date 26 April 2026